Out of Hours Cover

Out of hours cover is for the care of emergencies and urgent problems outside surgery hours.

The cover is for real emergencies such as heart attacks, breathing difficulties and meningitis.

You must be prepared to attend the nearest primary care centre unless the patient is medically unfit to travel.  The on call doctors can see far more patients at a central location than by visiting them at home.  They also have better facilities at the primary care centres so be prepared to ask relatives, friends or neighbours to give you a lift if necessary or to phone a taxi.

Out of hours cover does not deal with the following:

• Advice and prescriptions for coughs and colds, head lice and threadworms
• Prescriptions for medicines that can be bought at the chemist
• Repeat prescriptions
• Second opinions on problems being dealt with by your doctor
• Accidents and injuries which should be seen in Accident and emergency departments at your nearest general hospital
• Problems that can wait until your surgery is open

If your or a member of your family become critically ill and need immediate medical treatment you should telephone 999 and ask for an ambulance.  For Outside the above hours, you should contact your own surgery if you need to see a doctor.  For advice, NHS Direct, is available 24 hours a day on: 0845 464747.

Out of Hours Cover is provided by the Somerset Out-of-Hours Medical Service.  When you telephone the surgery out of hours, your call will automatically be diverted to 0845 4088000.